MONSTER SERIAL: Godzilla, Faces of a Legend

By PETER H. GILMORE

Godzilla achieved his 60th anniversary this past November and his name is known around the globe. Over the course of 30 films he has gone from the dark, lumbering embodiment of the hydrogen bomb to being a child-friendly defender of the Earth, even if he can’t help leveling a city or two in the process. How you relate to him often depends upon which film initiated you into the fandom of the King of the Monsters.

In 1954, Toho was inspired by the recent re-release of the 1933 KING KONG as well as the previous year’s THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS by Ray Harryhausen to want to enter into the profitable world of oversized animals raising havoc. But the Japanese filmmakers had a more serious premise since their own nation had been shattered by two nuclear bombs dropped on them by the United States’ militia. The horror of those ultimate weapons could safely be expressed through the allegory of a vast, prehistoric creature roused to punish mankind, whose nuclear detonations had disturbed this great beast. He was called Gojira, supposedly a combination of the Japanese words for gorilla (gorira) and whale (kujira).
 

GOJIRA, 1954.

When this film was adapted for the US market with some of its message diluted and Raymond Burr added, his name was transliterated as Godzilla, bringing in almost a sense of blasphemy with the reference to the divine for such a hideous creature. And, to the best of their abilities, director Ishiro Honda and SPFX genius Eiji Tsuburaya conjured forth a dark terror who arose from Tokyo Bay to incinerate that city, irradiating the survivors who would later perish from this nuclear poisoning. Their use of a man in a suit as well as puppets worked well to embody a design meant to be a combination of T-Rex, Stegosaurus and Iguanodon.

The Gojira puppet.

The film was a box office success, leading to a sequel less than a year later wherein Godzilla fought with a giant form of ankylosaur named Anguirus. The rubber suits in this are cruder and made slimmer so that the actors could wrestle, unlike the original suit in which the actor could barely walk. This set the pattern of monster vs. monster that persisted for all but two subsequent films. Seven years later, stimulated by the success of the imported British giant monster film GORGO, a third film was produced and Toho licensed RKO’s King Kong to battle their nuclear flame-throwing reptile. The original Kong was only about 50 feet tall, though his height tends to vary between 18 and 60 feet as he’s depicted. Gojira was sized at 50 meters tall (164 feet) for most of his films, so Toho simply bumped-up Kong so he’d be a worthy competitor. This film also took a turn towards the comic away from the horror-orientation of the first two. From now through the 15th film, Godzilla would become ever more child friendly, in both behavior and looks, as he fought invading space monsters brought to Earth by kitschy aliens. He thus went from a visage of terror, to a large-eyed cutesy monster that was cheered-on by children around the world until the end of this first “Showa” series in 1975.

GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE, 1989.

In 1984, THE RETURN OF GODZILLA revived the character as a serious threat to our species in a film meant as a commentary on the US and Soviet obsession with expanding nuclear arsenals. This incarnation was again fierce and frightening and now 80 meters tall. In 1989, GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE critiqued genetic engineering and had Godzilla in combat with a peculiar creature that came from the fusion of Godzilla’s cells with the DNA of a rose along with the spirit of the deceased daughter of the scientist who made this horror. Godzilla’s look and size (100 meters) became stabilized for this second “Heisei” series in the following 6 films, with mostly minor tweaks. He fought revised versions of old adversaries: Mothra (with her evil cousin Battra), the golden dragon King Ghidorah, and a robotic replica Mechagodzilla There were two additional new foes: Space Godzilla—who had crystal protruding from his shoulders and as a dorsal array, and Destoroyah—a multi-formed aggregate conflation of a prehistoric crustacean with elements of the Oxygen Destroyer weapon that dissolved Godzilla in his very first film. In this 1995 film came the most dramatic change as Godzilla had suffered from a hyper-dose of radiation causing his internal nuclear organs to go haywire, threatening either a vast explosion or meltdown, both on a scale that would decimate the planet. Fiery red patches, lit from within, cover his body and he seems to be in constant agony. He does at last melt-down, poisoning Tokyo after the humans had assisted in vanquishing his enemy. A younger Godzilla co-starred, and after being slaughtered by Destoroyah, he is revived by the excess radiation, absorbed to bring forth a resurrected Godzilla.

GODZILLA, 1998.

The US took a crack at a Godzilla film in 1998 under Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. Though Patrick Tatopoulos designed for them a detailed, slim, 60 meter tall saurian monster influenced by then current ideas about prehistoric animals, their script had it running away from the military and later laying eggs which hatched into raptor-like young in Madison Square Garden. This monster didn’t even have the usual nuclear fire breath. Both this beast, later called Zilla by Toho, and its young were dispatched by missiles fired by US jets. All other Godzillas found such weaponry to be but a minor inconvenience. Despite doing well financially, the only sequel was a cartoon series broadcast on Saturday mornings for American television. Many young people thus were first exposed to this creature as being Godzilla. Thankfully the creature in this—the sole-survivor of the egg clutch who imprinted on the biologist from the film as a daddy figure—mostly behaved far more like Godzilla, fighting an array of giant monsters both new and at times reminiscent of Toho favorites. And he did have his fire-breath back.

GODZILLA: FINAL WARS, 2004.

In 2000, Toho launched a new film to bring attention back to their creation and for the first time made Godzilla green—with huge, spikey magenta back plates. He was returned to his original height, which allowed for more detailed miniature structures to be his playthings. GODZILLA 2000 had this new, fiercer manifestation fight another alien intruder, Orga, who looked a bit like the Rancor from RETURN OF THE JEDI. This look lasted for two films, then when Shusuke Kaneko came on board in 2001 he gave Godzilla a supernatural twist—he was filled with the angry souls of those who died in WW2 in the Pacific theatre of combat. This  60 meter Godzilla had blank white eyes and his look went back to the original film, as did his charcoal gray body color. His rage helped him exterminate several of his old enemies (Baragon, Mothra, King Ghidorah) now cast as guardians of the land. The next two films centered around Godzilla battling another version of Mechagodzilla, called Kiryu, who was constructed around the bones of the original Godzilla. His look was a toned-down version of the 2000 design, though properly tinted in gray tones. The final film of this series (GODZILLA: FINAL WARS, from 2004) was a campy return to the 70s movies with references to The Matrix films, as tacky alien invaders control the many monsters of Earth to obliterate humanity. Here, a very athletic Godzilla is freed from a glacial prison to dispatch the other monsters and again save the planet.

GODZILLA, 2014.

Ten years later LEGENDARY PICTURES revived the dormant series under director Gareth Edwards with GODZILLA (2014), wherein a design wrought according to biological principles had the largest Godzilla of all at 106 meters. His body has a bear-like heft with a face that combines ursine and aquiline aspects. The state of the art CGI brought him to breathing, slavering, roaring life as he fought the MUTOs, a bonded pair of fellow prehistoric, radiation-hungry creatures with bizarre anatomy. These creatures have stapler-remover shaped jaws, clustered sense organs instead of eyes, and strangely configured multiple hooked limbs, the male having one pair of wings. Here Godzilla is defined as the last survivor of a prehistoric radiation devouring species who was the apex predator of his ancient ecosystem. When humans inadvertently cause the revival of a parasitic species from his time, Godzilla rises from his home in the abyssal trenches to right nature’s balance by eliminating the MUTOs. He is not yet mankind’s adversary, but woe unto us should he take notice of our upsetting the balance of his planet. This film made over a half-billion dollars in its theatrical run, pleasing both LEGENDARY and Toho as well as most fans of the entire series. With its sequel set to be released in 2018, Toho has decided to keep the interest going by promising us the beginning of their fourth series to be premiered in 2016 to the global market.

That stalwart Godzilla is alive and well at 60 with two series to be in progress simultaneously. He’s once again come ‘round to sounding the cautionary tone that made GOJIRA (1954) so effective. His new face looks upon us with a stern visage meant as a warning that we must be in harmony, rather than conflict, with nature. I suspect this always timely concept will keep Godzilla as a vital archetype for many decades to come.

Magus Gilmore has represented the Church of Satan since “The Satanic Panic” of the 1980s, being interviewed on numerous television and radio programs dealing with the topic of Satanism, including appearances on The History Channel, BBC, The Sci-Fi Channel, Point of Inquiry, and Bob Larson’s Christian radio show. His audio, video, and print interviews are numerous and continue to grow, making him the most interviewed Satanist in history. In 2001 he was appointed High Priest of the Church of Satan by Magistra Blanche Barton. Gilmore studied music composition at New York University where he earned B.S. and M.A. degrees. His solo album Threnody for Humanity presents orchestral-styled electronic music composed and performed by Gilmore. His book The Satanic Scriptures was published in 2007 and is currently available in a number of translations.

MONSTER SERIAL: An introduction by Magus Peter H. Gilmore

(Editor's note: A few weeks ago, someone on asked me why I was encouraging people to follow the Church of Satan on Twitter. The short answer? Because they've been good to The Collinsport Historical Society. The Church of Satan has been willing to provide signal boosts to our various projects during the last year. It's leader, Magus Peter H. Gilmore, provided some kinds words about our work for inclusion on the jacket of our first book, MONSTER SERIAL. If that wasn't enough, he also wrote the introduction to the follow-up, BRIDE OF MONSTER SERIAL. Below is the full text of that introduction, titled "Aye Monster!" Gilmore is a classy guy and I'm grateful for his support.)
 

 Aye Monster!

by PETER H. GILMORE

At about five years of age, I lived in an oddly evocative place, an enclave in New York’s Orange County which had been established in 1885 by tobacco baron Pierre Lorillard IV. This exclusive, walled, deeply-forested valley sheltered he and his wealthy cronies while they pursued their varied pleasures apart from those of lesser means. It is called Tuxedo Park. That eponymous item of formal attire was first worn at an evening gathering in one of the estates that perch on its pine-shrouded mountain sides above dark, mysterious lakes. Those still, secretive waters later offered practitioners of organized crime worthy locations for body disposal.

I lived in several houses beyond the stone guard towers and iron gates that bar entry to non-residents. One, primarily meant as a place for dog breeding with many chain-link fenced runs, included carved stone headstones for canines long dead. Another was formerly a carriage house, which my father was converting into a full home. A favorite was a Tudor-styled building which was approached by a driveway bordered by fieldstone walls. It was in that home that my identification with and sympathy for monsters was cemented.

My first excursion to the cinema was to the nearby Lafayette Theatre, built in 1923 and then still impressive as a well-worn movie palace. I always ensconced myself in a balcony seat in that aged ritual chamber, thrilling to the ornate curtains swooshing open as the darkness descended and the screen illumed. At home we had a black and white television, and it served to further kindle my love for film. My parents had no qualms about me watching fare such as the science fiction marionette sagas SUPERCAR, FIREBALL XL-5, and SPACE PATROL. The darkly disturbing anime works ASTRO BOY and THE EIGHTH MAN also stimulated my imagination and my speculations about human behavior. And when the Universal horror films were broadcast they fascinated me deeply. Browning’s DRACULA with that castle in the remote Carpathians made it look like The Count might dwell nearby. Rather than fearing him, I found him to serve as a role model for my future. When watching THE WOLF MAN, hearing lonely lupine howls during those full-mooned nights was comforting, since I too could look at Luna above the trees and at such moments had at times heard distant dogs baying. And the power given Lawrence Talbot during those few monthly nights I felt could be better harnessed—if he just embraced it as I surely would.

FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND once discovered became my gospel since I had already absorbed Stoker’s DRACULA and Wells’ WAR OF THE WORLDS as my first two novels. It not only gave me details about older existing films to seek out, but promoted newly minted efforts that I must pursue. I saw GIGANTIS, THE FIRE MONSTER but knew his proper name as Forry Ackerman had done a revelatory article showing how that wizard Eiji Tsuburaya had brought life to Godzilla and the other daikaiju. The techniques of Harryhausen the mage were therein disclosed, enhancing my pleasure at seeing his creations play out their often fitful lives. The denizens of my reading and viewing might inspire horror in others, but they provided me with both solace and excitement. Such beings who moved outside of the normal realms, whose often extended lives were filled with strange magic, these were my mentors, my brothers, my friends.

Many of the films discussed herein provide experiences that will touch you in ways that stimulate, amuse and disturb—they leave marks. They clearly have done so to the authors in this collection and if you haven’t seen them, be prepared to be newly wounded. If you are already an initiate, these reviews may prompt a return viewing, impelling you to stroke the scars they’ve left in your consciousness. I feel privileged to have seen many of them in their initial theatrical releases. RE-ANIMATOR thrilled with its gleefully graphic mayhem while ANGEL HEART realized Hjortsberg’s evocative novel in such a humid, neo-noir manner. THE EXORCIST III brought George C. Scott another fine performance to his roster as Brad Dourif served-up the mania that is often his signature. THE OMEGA MAN’s contemporary twist on Matheson’s classic I AM LEGEND brought Heston another chance to be a pivot-point for the destiny of the human species. Quatermass AND THE PIT was splendid summer night’s viewing at a drive in theatre, while THE NINTH CONFIGURATION showed me a more probing face of Blatty in a film that vanished for years, though it was deeply etched in my memory after but one viewing.

This column is among those featured in
 BRIDE OF MONSTER SERIAL, a collection of 
horror essays written by contributors to 
THE COLLINSPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
Buy it today on Amazon!

Perusing these passionate reviews offers participation in a dark fellowship giving weird, compulsive beings their due appreciation and where those who gave them vivid existence are celebrated for their achievements. We monsters-at-heart are well-met here, and you may rekindle memories of films you know well or discover some fine cinematic fiends who have not yet had the opportunity to seize you in their grasp. As I did as a young boy, you might find that the domains and entities depicted in these plays of light and shadow may not be so very distant from your experiences, discovering empathy where others encounter revulsion. These strange realms could be but a bold step or a surprised stumble away or they may simply offer you a welcome homecoming. Do let that chilling chorus from Browning’s FREAKS provide an enticing invitation as the dark portals open and you are drawn inside this collection: “One of us! One of us!”


Magus Gilmore has represented the Church of Satan since “The Satanic Panic” of the 1980s, being interviewed on numerous television and radio programs dealing with the topic of Satanism, including appearances on The History Channel, BBC, The Sci-Fi Channel, Point of Inquiry, and Bob Larson’s Christian radio show. His audio, video, and print interviews are numerous and continue to grow, making him the most interviewed Satanist in history. In 2001 he was appointed High Priest of the Church of Satan by Magistra Blanche Barton. Gilmore studied music composition at New York University where he earned B.S. and M.A. degrees. His solo album Threnody for Humanity presents orchestral-styled electronic music composed and performed by Gilmore. His book The Satanic Scriptures was published in 2007 and is currently available in a number of translations.